Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Secret Stash: Celluloid Vanity Case

It's time to take down another box from the closet, dust it off and share it with you.﻿ This case blesses the Top 5 of vintage goods I'd grab if running from a burning building. (Number one is my grandmothers leopard skin pill box hat with matching muff.)

THE ALLIGATOR LEATHER CELLULOID VANITY TRAIN CASE
I'm not certain if it's real alligator. (You can't see it well from here). The handle is also leather. I love the pointed "spades on each tip). Notice, there are TWO latches, for two separate compartments. AND the main compartment has TWO small skeleton keys and they work...

From left to right: pieces of a nail file, a soap box, a shoe horn, a horse-hair brush, a hairpin box, a toothbrush box, a shoe hook. Below: a powder box (still filled with a dreamy sweet powder) and a comb.

Opening the second compartment...

A full view, with the beveled mirror. The lining is brocade.

The full bottom compartment: three stretch pockets along the bottom sides and a larger one on top. All the elastic is good and holds, the fabric is dreamy. It's okay to swoon now. I'll get the smelling salts.

I'd like to research my case a bit more. There's not a single tag on it anywhere. Nothing!

Some days, I imagine a lady of leisure carried it with her on a train, laid out on fine linen while she brushed her hair and powdered her nose. Others, I imagine a traveling salesman carried it great distances selling each celluloid piece to ladies across the country.